Midland County had fewer bank foreclosures in 2007 than in 2006

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, January 23, 2008

In his quest to keep foreclosures as low as possible, Midland County Treasurer Richard Enszer has visited what he calls some of the poorest homes in Midland County.

"I've seen some of the houses that they have lived in that actually needed to be torn down, but they didn't have money to fix them," he said.

In 2007, 157 parcels were lost by their owners due to bank foreclosures, down from 180 in 2006. Last year, another nine properties were foreclosed because their owners were more than two years behind on their property taxes, the same number as in 2006, said Enszer.

This year, owners of 181 properties haven't paid their 2005 property taxes. Those landowners could see foreclosure on March 31 if they haven't made arrangements to pay.

Enszer believes that the figure of 181 will be whittled down severely. He works to see how low he can get the figure each year, phoning and visiting late payers and putting on the pressure near the deadline.

"My record is seven and, if I can beat that, that would be an awesome thing to do," he said.

Late payers are a mix of the poor and those who get entangled in credit cards and other debt, Enszer said. Another problem is odd-shaped parcels that keep coming back under his watch because people buy them at auction, then realize they can't build on them. So he encourages neighbors of these odd pieces to buy them and incorporate them into their larger parcels.

"I figure over the next couple of years we're going to have less of those coming back," he said.

As late payers receive more and more letters from the county, they often find ways to prevent foreclosure, Enszer said. Some ask family, friends and neighbors; others ask churches; still others find help from non-profit agencies. Enszer lets them know about "hardship forms" that give them another year's extension before their homes are foreclosed.

Enszer said he plans to attend Attorney General Mike Cox's Feb. 13 forum in Saginaw. He's hoping state lawmakers get on the bandwagon, too.